thattaotaothough
Scoot Junior
Curse you weather!
Posts: 9
Location: Pennsylvania
|
Post by thattaotaothough on Mar 12, 2015 23:46:46 GMT -5
Hello all! As you can see, I just joined.. Tonight. So I won't get insanely fancy with the posting - yet. But I'm sorry, this may be reaaaally long.
I bought a pre-owned 2013 TaoTao ATM50-A1 in February. Super excited. It's black. Due to the crazy stupid cold weather we've had, I haven't been able to touch it. I have been starting it up occasionally just to make sure it still runs.
Well, yesterday was the first time I was able to take the cover off and actually do some serious loving. I can say that the previous owner hadn't done anything to it besides changing the oil after intentionally buying it. So, who knows if he kept up with that or say ever charged the battery, etc. He told me he only rode it occasionally, and than it sat until I bought it. Yesterday I discovered the electric start does not work anymore. Kick start works fine.
Today I went full psycho on the thing and completely took it apart. Which was fun. Electric start still doesn't work, I checked the connections and those are all fine. I've pretty much determined it is the battery, and I doubt I can save the poor thing now. Uhh what else.. I've already looked up several videos and other forums, including a few threads from this forum. But it wasn't enough of what I needed to read so I joined! I am planning on upgrading the entire scooter throughout the year before winter hits again, since it's my only means of transportation. I'll only be driving it to work though. 45 minute walk, 3 minute drive.
Things I'm planning on purchasing: NGK Iridium Spark Plug, with a corresponding cover Kei Hin Carburetor - I hear these are really good if anyone can back that up for me. - I was playing with the idle screw, but the carburetor has the idle mixture sealed and I don't have the tools to unseal it. I saw that this one is unsealed and there are other pros to it, I'm sure. Possibly a racing or performance cdi and ignition coil? - specs and experiences would be great A Battery Charger - if anyone has recommendations please let me know! A new battery - I'm... At a total loss with this. Can I buy any battery that will fit the compartment? I looked up many batteries, I was hoping for one with a high enough cca because of where I live. Can a motorcycle battery work? Like a 12v 9ah? YTZ10s batteries can fit and they have great cca.. But is that compatible? I have no idea. Then just minor things, new bolts and screws, my springs like for the kickstands look nasty rusted. Things are cracked. All that good stuff. It's gonna be a hoot and a project but only cause I'm making it that way.
Should I do other things to it since it's been so long? I don't need a bbk or anything. I only need to take back roads that are 25 mph so maybe if I can push it to 35-40mph I will be okay, there are some hills though. If I can't already that is.
I'm sorry if this is really long. I'm super new to all of this but extremely excited to learn from anyone who's willing to teach. A FRESH EGG!
|
|
|
Post by Fox on Mar 12, 2015 23:54:11 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by niz76 on Mar 13, 2015 0:16:09 GMT -5
WELCOME! You've come to the right place as there are a ton of knowledgable members here and the best group of "scooter folk" on the internet! First off- congratulations on the scoot purchase! Glad it found a good home Sounds like you're planning to give your scoot a lot of lovin'- you might consider starting a "build thread" for your scoot. It's kinda like a diary, I actually call my build thread a "scooter diary" haha. It's cool to have all your info and upgrades in a build thread and eventually you/we can look back at it and see your scoot "mature". Oh- and pics! We love pics!! Yes you are correct you can put pretty much any 12v battery in your scoot as long as it physically fits in the compartment. Shoot, you could strap a huge 12v car battery to the luggage rack and just run the wires to it you wanted to go "full redneck". The YTZ10 battery you mentioned would work just fine. I've bought a bunch of scooter batteries for different scoots and usually just get the $25 one from Walmar... your choice it's your baby! I have and like the Schumacher battery charger from Walmart but you don't necessarily need all it's functions- You could just get a cheapy battery tender that many here use and like. Sounds like you're on the right track with everything else you mentioned and there's no shortage of experienced folks here to help along the way. HOWEVER: I would like to place a wager I betcha $5 that before the end of summer you'll be wanting to install a BBK on that scoot of yours! That's what my crystal ball says anyway muwahahaha. Wanna get a bit depressed? Use a GPS speedo app on your phone to see how fast you're actually going. These Chinometers are notoriously optimistic. Mine is off by 20 mph at higher speeds!
|
|
|
Post by Upgrayedd on Mar 13, 2015 0:58:18 GMT -5
welcome! if youre handy and feel like tinkering, 90gtvert has a video on his youtube channel on how to unseal that factory carb. theyre very similar to the replacement carbs, mostly the same body cast. the jet needle is a bit different inside. well anyhow... essentially with a basic dremel kit (standard bits) you could pretty easily get into that carb, and then adjust as needed. maybe not even need the dremel, maybe just a file, and a drill with a small bit, and a spare screw (seriously) just wanted to throw this in here in case you might be happier with $20 in new tools versus a new carb. the keihin carbs probably can be dialed in closer and are probably initially easier to adjust. i used a fine dremel disc to add slots to my jet needle and made it adjustable.
sounds like youre on the right track.
if it has sat outside over winter in the cold/wet weather, it would be wise to change out the oil, since it likely got some condensation in it over the winter. maybe drain/fill the engine oil, gear oil, drain the gas for sure.
oil turns a milky brown when its got water in it and gets ran/mixed. you likely knew that but in case not there's that.
have fun, welcome to the forum.
|
|
|
Post by scooterpimp on Mar 13, 2015 4:57:53 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by walleye1963 on Mar 13, 2015 7:24:03 GMT -5
|
|
thattaotaothough
Scoot Junior
Curse you weather!
Posts: 9
Location: Pennsylvania
|
Post by thattaotaothough on Mar 13, 2015 10:09:54 GMT -5
WELCOME! You've come to the right place as there are a ton of knowledgable members here and the best group of "scooter folk" on the internet! First off- congratulations on the scoot purchase! Glad it found a good home Sounds like you're planning to give your scoot a lot of lovin'- you might consider starting a "build thread" for your scoot. It's kinda like a diary, I actually call my build thread a "scooter diary" haha. It's cool to have all your info and upgrades in a build thread and eventually you/we can look back at it and see your scoot "mature". Oh- and pics! We love pics!! Yes you are correct you can put pretty much any 12v battery in your scoot as long as it physically fits in the compartment. Shoot, you could strap a huge 12v car battery to the luggage rack and just run the wires to it you wanted to go "full redneck". The YTZ10 battery you mentioned would work just fine. I've bought a bunch of scooter batteries for different scoots and usually just get the $25 one from Walmart... your choice it's your baby! Sounds like you're on the right track with everything else you mentioned and there's no shortage of experienced folks here to help along the way. HOWEVER: I would like to place a wager I betcha $5 that before the end of summer you'll be wanting to install a BBK on that scoot of yours! That's what my crystal ball says anyway muwahahaha. Wanna get a bit depressed? Use a GPS speedo app on your phone to see how fast you're actually going. These Chinometers are notoriously optimistic. Mine is off by 20 mph at higher speeds! Wow thank you so much for this reply already! And thanks for the welcome! I'm glad to know that I'm going down the right path with my decisions so far. Where can I put this building thread exactly? I'm having a little trouble figuring out how to do things here, I don't even know if I quoting properly LOL That's good news about the battery, I measured my compartment yesterday and I'm most likely going to remeasure it today just to be safe because I'd really like to get my hands on one of those that I saw on ebay. And they were all really nicely priced. I dooon't think I wanna go full redneck lol but it's so cool to me the things you can do with a little bit of rewiring. I might end up with some kind of post Armageddon machine at that rate XD - Which though really doesn't sound too bad. I'll most definitely be putting pictures up! I'm mostly figuring out what sizes are good for this formatting. Seems pretty standard.
Good thing about the battery chargers, that second one I've seen on ebay but I haven't looked up that first one. I'll check into it
DO YOU REALLY THINK SO?! LOL I don't know if I want to take you up on that offer! We'll play it by ear! I don't need to be scaring the old people around here or giving these cops something to do.
Whah geeze, you can't go depressing people their first time in here! Ookkaaayy so I can download it onto my phone? I'll see how that goes. Maybe I can put something into the frame of the scooter somewhere. I'll draw some stuff up.
|
|
thattaotaothough
Scoot Junior
Curse you weather!
Posts: 9
Location: Pennsylvania
|
Post by thattaotaothough on Mar 13, 2015 10:19:18 GMT -5
welcome! if youre handy and feel like tinkering, 90gtvert has a video on his youtube channel on how to unseal that factory carb. theyre very similar to the replacement carbs, mostly the same body cast. the jet needle is a bit different inside. well anyhow... essentially with a basic dremel kit (standard bits) you could pretty easily get into that carb, and then adjust as needed. maybe not even need the dremel, maybe just a file, and a drill with a small bit, and a spare screw (seriously) just wanted to throw this in here in case you might be happier with $20 in new tools versus a new carb. the keihin carbs probably can be dialed in closer and are probably initially easier to adjust. i used a fine dremel disc to add slots to my jet needle and made it adjustable. sounds like youre on the right track. if it has sat outside over winter in the cold/wet weather, it would be wise to change out the oil, since it likely got some condensation in it over the winter. maybe drain/fill the engine oil, gear oil, drain the gas for sure. oil turns a milky brown when its got water in it and gets ran/mixed. you likely knew that but in case not there's that. have fun, welcome to the forum. Thank you very much! I've actually looked over all of his videos! It's an awesome coincidence we have the same scooter, so it helped me out a lot. I suppose I'll try getting into the carb first before going out and buying a new one. I'll definitely look into those tools! I'm sure at the rate I'm going, I'm going to need some tools handy anyway lol Oh okay, I didn't know that actually so thank you. I know where to drain the engine and gear oil, but how do I drain the gas? That's another thing I may be interested in are the jets, should it be wise to buy a kit with several different sizes? I'll need to read more about them, I don't know too much on that.
|
|
thattaotaothough
Scoot Junior
Curse you weather!
Posts: 9
Location: Pennsylvania
|
Post by thattaotaothough on Mar 13, 2015 10:59:06 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by 90GTVert on Mar 13, 2015 11:18:40 GMT -5
I have 2 Battery Tender Jrs and like them for the scoots and mowers. I bought a Battery Minder that was more expensive and didn't like it as much as the Battery Tender. If it will be outside the Battery Tender 800 like niz76 mentioned would be better. You mentioned considering an aftermarket CDI and coil. I'd skip them. I did a video with my experiences, and showed a free mod, HERE. I also used an adjustable spark tester later and found that the stock coil on my TaoTao fired a larger gap more consistently than the other coils I had around, so again it proved itself.
|
|
thattaotaothough
Scoot Junior
Curse you weather!
Posts: 9
Location: Pennsylvania
|
Post by thattaotaothough on Mar 13, 2015 11:48:05 GMT -5
I have 2 Battery Tender Jrs and like them for the scoots and mowers. I bought a Battery Minder that was more expensive and didn't like it as much as the Battery Tender. If it will be outside the Battery Tender 800 like niz76 mentioned would be better. You mentioned considering an aftermarket CDI and coil. I'd skip them. I did a video with my experiences, and showed a free mod, HERE. I also used an adjustable spark tester later and found that the stock coil on my TaoTao fired a larger gap more consistently than the other coils I had around, so again it proved itself. Thank you and hey! I've seen all of your videos on your Taotao! I'm actually really excited you posted here lol. And it will be outside so I'll look at that charger. What about the chargers that I listed? Would those be any good? I did see your aftermarket video, and by your results they don't look like they're worth the trouble. Then again this scooter is a couple years old and has been sitting for awhile. Maybe that will be the last thing I check out. If I get enough power from the other upgrades that I do then I won't bother. Thank you again for posting! You and your videos are very helpful! And you're awesome! About what I said with my electric starter not working, do you think it would be the battery? Would there be any other factors? It sounds like it's trying but it just doesn't go - again kick starter starts it right up. I've noticed the lights are dim as well.
|
|
|
Post by 90GTVert on Mar 13, 2015 15:36:29 GMT -5
Thanks! The chargers you listed don't specifically mention being waterproof/weatherproof that I saw. I'd go with the BT 800 or something else that is waterproof. I'm stuck on Battery Tenders after another more expensive one didn't work as well, but I'm sure many makes and models work just fine. If the engine cranks over but just can't seem to crank quickly enough to fire, most likely it's the battery or the battery is failing to be charged. HERE are some battery checks if you have a multimeter. If not they are cheap or sometimes free with purchase at a Harbor Freight with a coupon. HERE is an easy way to see if the battery is being charged when the engine is running. My TaoTao is a couple of years old now with the stock battery and even sitting on a charger in the garage it won't usually crank quickly enough to fire in cold weather so I kick start it. Once the weather is warmer the battery does well enough that it doesn't necessarily need replacement.
|
|
|
Post by 90GTVert on Mar 13, 2015 15:47:54 GMT -5
Oh, and if the lights are only dim at idle or very low RPM it's normal. They are powered by the stator and don't get much voltage at low revs. They should get brighter when riding or revving.
|
|
|
Post by stevec on Mar 14, 2015 5:26:23 GMT -5
|
|
thattaotaothough
Scoot Junior
Curse you weather!
Posts: 9
Location: Pennsylvania
|
Post by thattaotaothough on Mar 26, 2015 10:35:12 GMT -5
Just wanted to do a little update. I've been ordering things online and they've slowly started coming in the mail.
I got the new battery yesterday but oh behold, we now decided to get spring showers! Still waiting on the new spark plug - which is late. That's fun. These are at least the two main things I've been concerned about.
I thought I'd give starting it a shot when I had to go to work at 7 AM. The electric start didn't work at all. And when I used the kickstart it would start, struggle for a little, then die. Then not work at all. Then work for a good 2 minutes before I put up the kickstand and sit on it, then die again. What is that exactly? Mind you it was 35 degrees outside. I'm really hoping all I need to do is replace the battery.. Can I do anything else to make it start in the cold?
I'll post as soon as it stops raining and I get the battery in.
|
|